Penn College's North Campus Offers Medical-Billing Classes
Published 09.04.2008
Pennsylvania College of Technology's North Campus near Wellsboro is offering classes for a certificate in medical billing and coding specialist.
The college has received approval for the program from the National Healthcareer Association, which certifies the competency of newly trained professionals in allied health care. Current students in the program will take the NHA certification exam in December for the designation of certified billing and coding specialist (CBCS).
The new certificate is for those wishing to obtain the skills needed to work in the handling of proper insurance claims in a physician's office or medical-insurance company using CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) and the ICD-9-CM (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification) for coding.
Students must complete five courses to sit for the NHA exam: "Beginning Medical Terminology," "Intermediate Medical Terminology," "Introduction to Medical Billing and Coding," "Billing and Coding II," and "Billing and Coding III." Office employees with medical experience may opt out of the medical terminology classes.
"Beginning Medical Terminology" classes will be offered from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, Sept. 23 to Oct. 14. "Intermediate Medical Terminology" is scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays, Oct. 23 to Nov. 13. "Introduction to Medical Billing and Coding" and "Billing and Coding II" will be offered in Spring 2009; "Billing and Coding III" will be offered in Fall 2009.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment of billing and coding specialists is expected to increase greatly over the next 10 years.
Obtaining NHA certification can provide the competitive edge to secure a job or promotion. Students in the North Campus program must have either a high school diploma or GED and must have successfully completed the NHA-approved training program to take the certification exam.
For more information, or to register for courses, contact the North Campus at (570) 724-7703.